Western Digital Corporation (NASDAQ:WDC) Given Average Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by Analysts

Western Digital Corporation (NASDAQ:WDC) has received a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the twenty-five brokerages that are covering the firm, Marketbeat.com reports. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nineteen have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. The average 1 year price objective among brokerages that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $177.50.

WDC has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Sanford C. Bernstein raised shares of Western Digital to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, September 16th. Barclays raised their price objective on shares of Western Digital from $105.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, October 31st. Robert W. Baird set a $180.00 target price on Western Digital in a research report on Friday, October 31st. Benchmark lifted their price target on Western Digital from $115.00 to $163.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, October 31st. Finally, China Renaissance began coverage on Western Digital in a report on Friday, December 5th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $193.00 price objective on the stock.

Key Headlines Impacting Western Digital

Here are the key news stories impacting Western Digital this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Intraday institutional order‑flow bullish signal (Power Inflow) triggered near $187.86, drawing buying interest and helping reverse an early pullback. Western Digital Shares Rise 5% After Key Trading Signal
• Positive Sentiment: Higher‑capacity HDDs and hyperscaler demand are cited as the main drivers of revenue growth and outlook improvement, supporting the firm’s core enterprise storage business and margins. Higher Capacity HDDs Drive Western Digital’s Revenue Growth
• Positive Sentiment: Momentum: coverage notes WDC has risen more than 9% YTD and enjoyed very strong gains in 2025, which can attract momentum and growth‑oriented flows. Western Digital Corporation (WDC) Has Risen More Than 9% Since the Start of 2026
• Positive Sentiment: Analyst/earnings setup: previews point to double‑digit EPS growth expectations ahead of Western Digital’s Q2 report, which reinforces the fundamental case for the rally. Western Digital Earnings Preview: What to Expect
• Neutral Sentiment: Unusually high options volume indicates elevated short‑term interest and positioning; could amplify intraday moves but is ambiguous on direction unless one can see call/put skew. Western Digital Sees Unusually High Options Volume (NASDAQ:WDC)
• Neutral Sentiment: Consumer SSD branding updates (WD Black/Blue → SanDisk Optimus collection) are product‑level news that support retail visibility but are unlikely to materially change near‑term enterprise revenue. WD Black and WD Blue gaming SSDs have transformed into the Sandisk Optimus Collection
• Negative Sentiment: Sector froth/risk: commentary on memory and chip stocks running hot raises the risk of an overheated trade and mean‑reversion if macro or AI demand narratives slow. That poses short‑term downside if momentum reverses. Memory Chip Stocks are Red-Hot. Is it Too Late to Buy?

Insider Buying and Selling at Western Digital

In other Western Digital news, CEO Irving Tan sold 20,000 shares of Western Digital stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $150.69, for a total value of $3,013,800.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 645,467 shares in the company, valued at $97,265,422.23. The trade was a 3.01% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Roxanne Oulman sold 1,800 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, November 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $154.42, for a total transaction of $277,956.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 3,863 shares in the company, valued at approximately $596,524.46. The trade was a 31.79% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold a total of 26,369 shares of company stock valued at $4,013,785 in the last three months. 0.18% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. ORG Partners LLC increased its holdings in Western Digital by 124.5% in the 3rd quarter. ORG Partners LLC now owns 211 shares of the data storage provider’s stock worth $25,000 after purchasing an additional 117 shares in the last quarter. Cullen Frost Bankers Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Western Digital by 551.4% during the third quarter. Cullen Frost Bankers Inc. now owns 241 shares of the data storage provider’s stock worth $29,000 after purchasing an additional 204 shares during the last quarter. Grove Bank & Trust acquired a new position in shares of Western Digital in the third quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Westfuller Advisors LLC bought a new position in Western Digital in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Finally, Cornerstone Planning Group LLC raised its holdings in Western Digital by 207.0% in the 3rd quarter. Cornerstone Planning Group LLC now owns 264 shares of the data storage provider’s stock valued at $32,000 after buying an additional 178 shares during the last quarter. 92.51% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Western Digital Stock Up 6.8%

WDC stock opened at $200.46 on Monday. Western Digital has a 1-year low of $28.83 and a 1-year high of $221.23. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $169.97 and its 200 day simple moving average is $119.47. The company has a current ratio of 1.21, a quick ratio of 0.94 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.42. The firm has a market capitalization of $68.54 billion, a PE ratio of 29.18, a PEG ratio of 1.24 and a beta of 1.78.

Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC) last released its quarterly earnings data on Monday, April 7th. The data storage provider reported $1.78 EPS for the quarter. Western Digital had a net margin of 21.37% and a return on equity of 30.89%. The firm had revenue of $4.10 billion during the quarter. Western Digital has set its Q2 2026 guidance at 1.730-2.030 EPS. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Western Digital will post 4.89 EPS for the current year.

Western Digital Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, December 18th. Investors of record on Thursday, December 4th were paid a $0.125 dividend. This represents a $0.50 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.2%. This is a boost from Western Digital’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.10. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, December 4th. Western Digital’s dividend payout ratio is currently 7.28%.

Western Digital Company Profile

Western Digital Corporation is a global data storage company that designs, manufactures and sells a broad range of storage devices and systems for personal, enterprise and cloud applications. Headquartered in San Jose, California, the company develops hard disk drives (HDDs), solid-state drives (SSDs), NAND flash components and finished storage products used in PCs, external storage, servers, network-attached storage (NAS) and embedded systems.

Its product portfolio spans consumer and commercial markets, including internal and external HDDs and SSDs, removable flash memory products and storage platforms for data center and enterprise environments.